St. Mary's Church (Stralsund)

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Marienkirche Stralsund (2011)
Marienkirche from Wulflamufer (2006)
The Marienkirche on a plan from 1647 still with a high tower

The St. Mary's Church in Stralsund is a three-nave church with a transept, western pseudo-transept, ambulatory and chapels . The basilica on Neuer Markt was first mentioned in 1298. It is the largest parish church in the Hanseatic city of Stralsund. The church is considered to be a late Gothic masterpiece in Central Europe. From 1549 until the destruction of its then, according to unsecured tradition, 151 meters high Gothic spire by lightning in 1647, it was supposedly the world's tallest building . The 104 meter high tower of St. Mary's Church offers a view of Stralsund, the surrounding area and Rügen .

Building history

St. Marien by night

St. Marien von Stralsund is the youngest brick- built Gothic basilica in the Nordic region after the Nikolaikirche in Lüneburg .

It was built based on the model of the Marienkirche in Lübeck . However, many and important elements were adapted to the architectural zeitgeist of the late Gothic. The buttress arches are hidden under the roofs of the aisles. The buttresses typical of the Gothic architectural style are also absent, with a few exceptions. As a result, the building presents itself with an unusual clarity. Julia Greipl from the German Foundation for Monument Protection therefore also praises the appearance, which is "unusually compact and closed for the Gothic". The simple but original design of the choir , with its partly half-windows in the ambulatory, the monumental transept and, last but not least, the extraordinary west building create a little more distance from the model in Lübeck than is the case with more conservative successor buildings of that church. The Marienkirche is (next to the Cologne and Schwerin Cathedral ) one of the few churches with a three-aisled transept in Germany. The characteristic architectural features of the Marienkirche were taken up in smaller buildings in the area, for example in the Marienkirche in Kenz and in the church Voigdehagen .

When the church tower collapsed in 1382, the original church chancel and parts of the nave were destroyed; The cause was the insufficiently paved subsurface. The new building began immediately, so that as early as 1411 the clockwork with the bell (Middle Low German seyger ) could be installed in the roof turret . In 1416 the foundation stone was laid for the west building, which consists of a towering central tower flanked by four smaller stair towers and two side halls, and rests on 14 meter high pillars. There are no parallels in the architecture of the time for this construction. The Apollonia Chapel on the south side was built in 1416 as atonement for three priests who were burned at the stake by the Stralsunders in the Papenbrand thom Sunde . According to the inventory of the first post-Reformation mayor and church leader Franz Wessel, there were 44 other richly decorated altarpieces and chapels in St. Marien in his time in addition to the high altar.

From 1475 to 1478 the tower was built, which was covered with copper in 1485 . The very tall Gothic spire fell down during a heavy storm in 1495, but was placed back on top of the tower, allegedly giving the church a height of 151 meters. It would have been the tallest building in the world from 1549, when the spire collapsed over the crossing of Lincoln Cathedral , to 1647. In 1647 the pointed helmet was destroyed by fire after a lightning strike. The current baroque hood was completed in 1708. The extensions to the north and south of this west tower look like a transept and give the church a massive and defensive effect. Inside the tower, a pedal wheel for lifting materials has been preserved.

The building was mainly made of red brick. The western buttress towers are faced with limestone up to a height of 36 meters . Granite stone was used in the base area .

The interior of the 100-meter-long and 32.9-meter-high church in the central nave gives a huge impression of space; the interior is up to 96 meters long and 41 meters wide.

Little can be seen of the original, rich interior decoration, as almost all of the inventory was destroyed in the iconoclasm during the Reformation , the church breaking , and a great city fire in 1647.

From 1807 to 1810 the church served the French occupation troops as a barracks and hay store. In 1872 a competition was announced for a new portal, which the architect Hans Griesebach from Hanover won from 15 designs .

The Marienkirche was also damaged in the bombing raid on Stralsund on October 6, 1944 . From 1947 on, the posts and glazing of the windows were renewed and parts of the south aisle roof were covered with slate.

In the years after 2000, extensive renovation work took place in the church, during which, among other things, the unusually large church windows were renewed and the Stellwagen organ was restored. On the night of June 14th to 15th, 2005, a fire that started after a line damage caused considerable damage to the facility, which has since been eliminated.

Facing the Neuer Markt there is a military cemetery and a memorial for Soviet soldiers and members of the Red Army in front of the church .

The major demonstrations in Stralsund during the Peaceful Revolution of 1989/90 started from the Marienkirche .

Sights in the church

crucifix
The Stellwagen Organ (2016)
Memorial in front of stained glass window
Coronation Altar of Mary

In addition to the impressive architecture, the Marienkirche also offers numerous sights within the old walls.

The order of the following description corresponds to the point of view a visitor would have on a tour of the church. This virtual tour begins in the north aisle.

  • Gothic paintings from the 15th century cover the arcade arches . The paintings - portraits of men and angels - probably depict saints. Many other paintings are hidden under later layers of paint and plaster.
  • An unusual crucifix can be found on the west tower wall: the work of art from 1480 shows Jesus standing on the cross, not hanging, with his head only slightly tilted.
  • Numerous funerary chapels conceal the spaces between the supporting pillars. The original 200 box altars and 44 from the Middle Ages of the guilds and guilds were lost. In their place there are grave chapels with baroque display walls from around 1750.
  • The floor slabs that are grave slabs are made of granite. While the plates from the 17th and 18th centuries still clearly show the names, symbols and coats of arms, the plates from the 14th century are barely legible. Thousands of feet have almost polished the plates over the centuries.
  • Just before the northern exit is a carved group of figures from the 15th century. It originally stood in the niches of the north entrance. Depicted are Mary with the child, Peter with a scepter and Paul .
  • The north transept portal is not used as an entrance. In front of this entrance to the Neuer Markt stands the memorial for the Soviet Red Army, warning of the liberation in May 1945 .
  • The burial chapel of Count Küssow, built in 1659, stands out in the northern ambulatory. In 1742 this was provided with the display wall that can still be seen today.
  • The following brotherhood chapel of the Marian Brotherhood was once a sacristy ; today it serves the community as a winter church. A vera icon can be seen in the cross nimbus . The main organ of Johann Schulte's church from 1493 was once located above this chapel.
  • The choir has a colorful glazed window in the east point. The risen One is depicted . At the feet of Jesus are Mary and Mary Magdalene and the inscription "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will live" (John 11, 25). The window was donated by Lena Wiese in 1913.
  • In front of the window is the memorial of the soldiers who died in the world wars. This was redesigned in 2000.
  • The southern ambulatory leads to the tomb of the Swedish Count Johan Paulinus Lillienstedt , which was designed in 1732 by the Antwerp sculptor Johann Baptist Xavery . Because of its lively depiction of the figures, it is considered the most important baroque marble work in Pomerania .
  • An octagonal baptistery from 1738 and a baptismal font from around 1300 are located near the south transept portal. The baptismal case once stood in the south tower hall. The congregation still carries out baptisms in this baptismal case today.
  • The southern transept portal leads to Marienstraße. One inscription reads pax vobiscum ("Peace be upon you").
  • The south aisle is also marked by funerary chapels.
  • The central nave in the west is adorned with the organ built by the Lübeck master organ builder Friedrich Stellwagen in 1659. It has been extensively restored and has been fully functional again since 2008. The Grüneberg organ from 1906 stands on the north wall .
  • The three Renaissance - chandeliers from 1639, (as seen from west to east) in 1557 and 1649 were made of brass. The largest shows a pelican slitting its chest to nourish its young with its blood. The Peilkan chandelier was donated by Michel Radeke, a Stralsund merchant, and his wife Barbara and in 1649 by Jochim Eberling the Elder. Ä. manufactured. The 2.78 meter high shaft chandelier measures 2.13 meters in diameter. Ten modules sit on its spindle. Of the ten modules, three have ten candlestick arms on each floor, two of the modules are decorated with tendrils. The top module has a pelican with three boys as the crowning figure. The bottom module is the large ball with a rosette and pine cone as a lower slope. Their diameter is 49 centimeters. It bears the inscription in capitals: “Michell Rateke and his dear housekeeper Barbara Zeltzen gave this crown in honor of God and this Sact Marien Kirchen for an ornament in the year after the birth of Christ 1.6.49 D: Mar. On this crone the church holds 20 punt wax lights every year.
  • The levitation on the walls of the central nave served mainly musical purposes.
  • The high altar as well as the pulpit and the stalls were manufactured and installed in the first third of the 19th century according to designs by the Stralsund drawing teacher Johann Wilhelm Brüggemann .
  • The choir has neo-Gothic stucco made of round services and a choir screen made of eyelashes, pinnacles and tracery. The sketchy design for this version was made by Karl Friedrich Schinkel , the execution was in charge of Brüggemann. The redesign began in 1841. This neo-Gothic design in the nave was removed in the 1930s.
  • In the middle of the high choir is the altar of the Coronation of Mary , which was made before 1498. He was previously, but not originally, in the village church of Semlow . It came to Stralsund in 1971 and, after extensive restoration, was installed in the Marienkirche in 1995. It was re-inaugurated in 1999 after renovation.
  • A rare reticulated vault can be seen in the west building, while the crossing and the north and south tower hall have a star vault.

Bells

The Glockenstube, Kugelpanorama 2018
Show as Kugelpanorama
Trinity bell from 1663

The Marienkirche has five church bells , including three historic bells from the 17th century. All other historical bells were lost over time.

In the west tower, three large bells hang in a massive wooden belfry. They form the main bell. The deepest, largest bell, the so-called Trinity Bell, dates from 1663, the other two bell bells from 1969. The Trinity bell was welded in 2000 and got a new clapper in 2010; In addition, the three bell bells were hung on new straight wooden yokes in 2010, which has significantly improved the sound; they have hung on cranked steel yokes since 1969.

Two small clock- striking bells from 1647 hang in the roof turret above the crossing ; the larger of the two hangs in the lower lantern, the smaller of the two in the upper lantern.

In 2010 it was decided to add two ensembles to the bell ensemble, especially to protect the Trinity bell . For this purpose, the prayer bell has already been hung over the baptismal bell, thus preparing a compartment for the new bells.

No.
  		Surname
  		Casting
year 		Caster
  		Ø
(mm) 		Weight
(kg) 		Nominal
  		inscription
 
1 Trinity Bell 1663 Adam Lehmeier 2010 ~ 5000 as 0 “I flowed through heat and fire. Adam Lehmeier poured me. My name is Holy Trinity. God be praised forever. "
2 Baptismal bell 1969
Schilling bell foundry ,
Apolda		 1570 2455 c 1 "You have prepared yourself praise from the mouths of minors and babies."
3 Prayer bell 1310 1360 it 1 "Jesus Christ says: Watch and pray."
I. Big clock bell 1647 Adam Lehmeier 1600 ~ 700
II Small clock bell 800 ~ 250

Room dimensions, facts and figures

Total length of the interior 96.00 m
Height of the central nave 32.95 m
Clear width of the central nave 10.15 m
Height of the aisles 14.95 m
Yoke width 6.30 m
Width of the transept 41.00 m
Height of the tower 104.00 m
Ground plan area 3,583 m²
Usable area 2,723 m²
Enclosed space 119,034 m³

local community

The Mariengemeinde has been part of the Stralsund Propstei in the Pomeranian Evangelical Church District of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany since 2012 . Before that she belonged to the Stralsund parish of the Pomeranian Evangelical Church . She has been a member of the Cross of Nails Community since May 11, 2005 .

literature

  • Wolfgang Clasen: St. Marien zu Stralsund and the late Gothic church building in the north German brick area. (Diss. Ms.), Marburg 1947.
  • Silke Freier: Cemetery and memorial on the Neuer Markt in Stralsund. In: Heimathefte for Mecklenburg and Vorpommern. 7. Vol. 1 (1997), pp. 51-53.
  • Antje Grewolls: The chapels of the north German churches in the Middle Ages. Architecture and function. Kiel 1999.
  • Ernst von Haselberg (arrangement): The architectural monuments of the Stralsund administrative district. Booklet V. The city district of Stralsund ( The architectural monuments of the province of Pomerania, first part). Szczecin 1902.
  • Hellmuth Heyden: The churches of Stralsund and their history. Berlin 1961.
  • Walther Jahn: The Marienkirche. Stralsund 1930.
  • Silke Kossmann: The Marienkirche in Stralsund and its successors in Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Thomas-Helms-Verlag, Schwerin 2005, ISBN 3-931185-70-2 .
  • Burkhard Kunkel: Work and Process. The visual artistic equipment of the Stralsund churches - a work history. Gebrüder Mann, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-7861-2588-4 .
  • Ralf Lusiardi: Foundation and Society. Religious and social aspects of foundation behavior in late medieval Stralsund. ( Foundation Stories, Vol. 2), Berlin 2000.
  • Nikolaus Zaske: Stralsund's Gothic churches and their works of art. Church art history from 1250 to the present. Berlin 1964.

Web links

Commons : Marienkirche Stralsund  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tower ascent of St. Marienkirche on hansestadt-stralsund.de
  2. ↑ Julia Greipl: Big Church, Big Tasks - Needs help continuously: The Marienkirche in Stralsund. In: Monuments , edition 5/2019, pp. 30, 31.
  3. ^ S. Burkhard Kunkel: Work history and reconstruction. About the handling of the artistic altar decorations of the Stralsund churches at the time of the Lutheran Reformation. In: C. Herrmann, E. Gierlich, M. Müller (eds.): Brick architecture in the Baltic region. New perspectives in research. Petersberg 2015, pp. 74–91.
  4. ↑ See also Burkhard Kunkel: Late medieval altar pieces in Stralsund main churches - work history and work process. In: F. Biermann, M. Schneider, T. Terberger (Eds.): Parish churches in the cities of the Hanseatic area. In: Archeology and History in the Baltic Sea Region, Bd. 1. Rahden / Westf. 2006, pp. 113-126.
  5. ↑ Illustrirte Zeitung No. 1544 of February 1, 1873, p. 74.
  6. ^ Arno Krause: Stralsund. In: Götz Eckardt (ed.): Fates of German architectural monuments in the Second World War. Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978, Volume 1, p. 76.
  7. ↑ Information about the bells (as of July 3, 2018)
before Tallest building in the world after that
Lincoln Cathedral (151 m)
1549–1647 (lightning strike)		 Strasbourg Cathedral

Coordinates: 54 ° 18 ′ 35.8 ″  N , 13 ° 5 ′ 16.6 ″  E